Hollie Bone

Thousands turned out from all corners of the district to celebrate a record-breaking show at the scenic Ripley Castle Park.

Around 8,000 people flocked to Ripley for the annual local show which celebrates all things agricultural and traditional about the village.

A busy Ripley Show

This year saw record figures in the number of entries to animal categories and a huge soar in attendance compared to last year after a much improved bout of weather.

Marjorie Periam, Honorary Secretary of the organising committee said: “The weather was fantastic, the sun came out and it was a lovely day everybody sat around and it was very pleasant.

“The atmosphere is fantastic the park land is just wonderful, it is a magnificent setting for the show it is really very pretty.

“We draw in a lot of town people because they like an agricultural show and it is a very nice relaxed atmosphere.

“We also had a record number of sheep entries - 600 in total. There are 17 categories of sheep all judged on their breed.

“It is a massive section of the show.”

Visitors to the show, which had a total of 2,000 of competitive entries, also saw some new entertainment which had never before featured at the event.

This year the Atkinson action horse experience, showed off their skills in the main ring with a display of talented trick riding.

Mrs Periam said: “It was good fun watching them cross the ring and our ring is not an easy one as it is on a slope.”

The annual event, which can cost in the region of £30,000 to put on, is organised by the The Ripley and District Agricultural and Horticultural Society, who rely solely on ticket sales to fund the show.

Mrs Periam said: “It is a very popular show, people think its small because its a local show but it is getting quite big. It costs a lot of money to put on the show, the cost is substantial.”

The show has been going for around 170 years in the village of Ripley and organisers say they have tried to keep it’s traditional roots over the years.

Marjorie said: “It is an agricultural show and we have to support agriculture and we do support agriculture at the show.

“We also had a small service in the afternoon because it was Sunday - we are totally traditional, which is nice we have stayed as a totally traditional agricultural show, we haven’t deviated at all.”

But just days after the show the committee is already looking at plans for next years event.

Mrs Periam said: “Straight away we are into the next one. We have already established a date for next year which is the 14th of August.We have a very nice sense of achievement we are all delighted that it was such a success.”